Was für eine Woche!...

Another week's over and I'm not entirely sure where it went. Because of a series of random events, I've fallen down a few online rabbit holes and immersed myself in all sorts of stuff. Before you panic that this blog will suddenly turn to anti-vaxxer, climate-change-denier, flat earth territory, let me reassure you. There are many rabbit holes on the Internet. I found some of the ones less catastrophic for humankind. Let's me lead you through the twists and turns of my week.

I do, Leo. I really do.

Last Monday's blog featured a couple of examples from The West Wing. I knew the quotes I wanted from my own head. Having watched the entire seven-season show, several times over, the memorable bits have stuck. Still, in the interest of getting it right, I searched around a bit and found a website of The West Wing Transcripts. So that was the first rabbit hole. I spent a happy few hours reacquainting myself with Aaron Sorkin's best lines. But that wasn't enough. As surely as night follows day, I knew my next rewatch of The West Wing would follow my last one. That was around five years ago. It was time. So far, I'm only three episodes in but I've done the Maths. I've calculated that if I manage three eps an evening, and watch it three nights a week, it will only take seventeen weeks to box off the lot. That takes me to mid-December. I reckon that's a manageable commitment to make. Happy Christmas Mr. President!

Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde. That film
sent me waayyy into the Internet.

My next rabbit hole went way deeper. Last week I was babysitting the niece and neph. To my great surprise and bewilderment, they were fast asleep by 9.30pm and I had the rest of the evening to myself. What to do? I scrolled through my iTunes library and spotted a film I'd only seen once, a while back. Atomic Blonde. Now then. It's an OK film. Flashy fight scenes, eighties fashion to the max, and a few twists and turns to keep me watching. But that wasn't the rabbit hole. No, it was the setting. November 1989, East Germany, the week before the Wall fell. It made me realise how little history I knew from that period. Even though I was eleven and knew Something Important was happening, I didn't really understand what it was. So that was the next rabbit hole. To educate myself on East Germany. And it's been fascinating. Who knew! I found a documentary on Amazon Prime called Behind the Wall, which features a mix of people who grew up and lived there, sharing their memories about everyday life. Then I found a podcast called Radio GDR, which features all sorts non-political topics about East Germany. I rewatched the Walter Presents series The Same Sky, about an East German 'Romeo' officer wooing Western women that might share official secrets with him. The next thing to do is watch Good Bye Lenin! and rewatch The Lives of Others. With all that under my belt, a chunk of my ignorance should be erased.

I KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS

Finally, and quite clearly related to my GDR immersion, I've started the German Duolingo course. Mainly because I studied German for five years and don't remember much. My theory is, it can't be that hard to revisit the stuff I've forgotten and then move on to the next level. Surely? It's a plan anyway. The good news is that so far, I'm acing it. To be fair, I've only covered family members and 'I am, you are' sentences. Pretty much the sort of thing I did in First Year Seniors. Good to know I'm still as clever as I was when I was eleven.

So that's been my week. I've read more Wikipedia entries than normal, watched more documentaries than normal, and learnt more German than normal. I imagine normal service, in all its mundanity, will commence soon enough. 

Have a lovely week, folks.